*** this is God’s word , so feel free to use , Copy, edit and make it your own to inspire and transform lives in Jesus ***
name What’s in your trash week after week ?
The food we through out week after week ,
It smells bad ..... but there’s one thing all garbage has in common ,
it was so good before it became trash 😀
Losing your first love or throwing it away like your smelly trash is the worst way to treat Gods Grace !
Darkness is never so dark as when a redeemed soul isn’t satisfied in God. The richness of the Scripture has no taste. The preacher’s sermon deflects off fleshly armor. Prayers seem to be stamped, “Return to sender.”
I have experienced several of these seasons during my decade as a Christian. It is a valley of the shadow of death, a desert wilderness in which Satan comes to tempt and deceive.
During these times, I’ve wanted to blame God for where I ended up and double down on my rebellion.
“What wrong did you find in me that you went far from me?” (see Jeremiah 2:5).
When we find ourselves far from God, he is never the one to blame.
Rev 2:4
But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love.
Leaving Your First Love?
The church at Ephesus They had a zeal , but they had lost their love for Jesus.
They showed up for Bible studies and debated the heretics, but lost their pure love for their Lord.
They stood against evil in their midst, but tolerated a sluggish love towards Jesus and each other.
And Jesus was going to remove their lampstand if they continued to sled down the hill that Matthew warned against: “Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:12–13)
But Jesus loves his church and has compassion towards his ppl
So, Jesus counsels them, and us, in three ways:
“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” (Revelation 2:5)
So tonight the 3 R’s !
1. Remember
The first step God calls us to may be surprising: remember. This is not some great feat for spiritual giants. It is merely the act of a child looking back upon former days.
Do you remember when God first woke up your soul? Do you remember the excitement you had when he plucked you out of darkness?
How joyful did you dance, from an orphan to a son, a dead sinner to a resurrected saint, an enemy with God to his beloved? Do you remember?
And if you don’t remember I know there are some that come to our church that I need to lead into the sinners prayer soon so they can start remembering ??😀
There is nothing I desire besides you” (see Psalm 73:25)?
Remember. Church remember!
2. Repent
From the conviction that comes from realizing where you once stood, repent. You have left Jerusalem for Egypt; the Promised Land for Canaan. Don’t just try to do better next time. Don’t just feel guilty and hide behind the bushes of good intentions. Go to your Savior in the blood of his Son and cry out for mercy, confessing your coldness to him and asking him for grace.
Tell him you’ve grown cold. Tell him you’ve entertained other loves. Repent to your God for not loving him as he deserves. He stands ready to forgive and restore. Your High Priest will sympathize with you, therefore, “Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16, KJV)
3. Return
Amazingly, God calls us to return to where we once fell !!
He calls us back to that fresh fire of love towards him and neighbor.
Jude 21).
5 I want to help you remember some things you already know: Remember that the Lord[a] saved his people by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. But later he destroyed all those who did not believe.
17 Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said would happen. 18 They told you, “In the last times there will be people who laugh at God and do only what they want to do—things that are against God.” 19 These are the people who divide you. They are not spiritual, because they don’t have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, use your most holy faith to build yourselves up even stronger. Pray with the help of the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves safe in God’s love, as you wait for the Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy to give you eternal life.!”
“God allows my joylessness to snap me out of treating him as a hobby.”
He has given you more breath so that you might use it to seek him, cry out to him, wait on him.
Show yourself on the horizon. He will run to you in due time.
